Recently, along with the digitization of a television (to be abbreviated as “TV” hereinafter), the TV can display information of not only broadcasting (terrestrial or satellite broadcasting) but also various information sources. For example, the TV can display digital camera images via a memory card slot, Internet contents via a LAN interface, and the like.
Upon diversification of information, contents for printing are expected to increase, and the print standards of a printing system including a digital TV and printing apparatus are being stipulated.
On the other hand, in a conventional prevalent system using a personal computer (to be abbreviated as “PC” hereinafter) and a printing apparatus which is connected to the PC, the PC and the printing apparatus exchange various kinds of information via a USB interface or the like. For example, status information to be sent from the printing apparatus to the PC includes:
1. Upon transmitting a print signal, amount of remaining ink information is transmitted from the printing apparatus side to the PC at the same time, and if an amount of remaining ink is small, a warning mark is displayed on the PC screen.
2. When printing cannot be done due to paper-out, a paper-out error is displayed on the PC screen.
3. When a paper jam has occurred upon feeding a paper sheet, a jam error is displayed on the PC screen.
4. When the printing apparatus can detect the presence/absence of paper sheets set inside itself, if a print signal is transmitted while a paper-out error is detected, a paper-out warning is displayed at that time.
5. Upon transmitting a print signal, a progress display indicating that printing is in progress is made on the PC screen.
With these displays, the user can recognize the status of the printing apparatus at that time via a large-size screen display, thus improving operability. For a printing apparatus which can be connected to a TV and can print received contents, as an invention that provides the same operation environment as an apparatus connected to a PC, for example, that disclosed in patent reference 1 is available.
This invention discloses a TV receiver which incorporates an image print output function comprising display means for displaying characters, numerals, symbols, and pictures on a TV screen. This TV receiver is characterized by displaying, on the TV screen, information indicating that printing of image data is in progress using at least one of characters, numerals, symbols, and pictures in synchronism with a print output from printer means.
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-121313